Pop-Up Menu (Menu Type)

Associate a pop-up menu with every object.

Associate a pop-up menu with elements in a selection scope that can be selected.

Associate a pop-up menu with the background of a selection scope.

Provide a pop-up menu for an element whenever users frequently need to apply actions to that element and if the element is accessible by the predefined shortcut keys.

A pop-up menu can be associated with controls or elements not associated with selection.

If a choice is not currently available, do not include it in a pop-up menu (except if a window menu is used as a pop-up menu).

If an action choice applies only to objects (for example, choices that also appear on the Selected menu), make the choice available on a pop-up menu.

Include an action on a pop-up menu when users frequently need to apply that action to the associated element or selection.

The availability and contents of the pop-up menu should depend on the location of the pointer within an element, as well as the current state.

If a choice is not currently available, do not include it in a pop-up menu (except for those used as window menus).

Treat a menu popped up on an unselected character in text as if it were popped up in the background.

If the user attempts to display a pop-up menu where no menu exists, or in a context in which the menu would be empty, do not display any pop-up menu; initiate a warning signal instead.

Keep the relative order of identical choices the same on a pop-up menu as on the pull-down menu. For example, because Paste appears after Copy on the Edit menu, it should appear after Copy on any corresponding pop-up menu.

Do not display a shortcut key for a choice on a pop-up menu unless it has the same result as the corresponding choice from a pull-down menu.

If you include the Help choice on a pop-up menu, make it the last choice on the menu.

On every pop-up menu, provide a title that indicates the function the menu performs or the identity of the element or object associated with it.

Describe which elements have a pop-up menu associated with them and how these pop-up menus can be used in the Help choice available through the window's Help pull-down menu.

If an unselected element in a selection scope is not an object, and is not displayed as a solid shape, then your application can treat a menu popped up on the element as if it were popped up in the background.

If you include the Delete or Clear choice in a pop-up menu, augment them with the words "to Trash" if and only if all elements to which the operation applies are objects.

You can include action choices from pull-down menus other than Edit or Selected in a pop-up menu if there is no possible confusion about semantics. You can use appropriate augmentation of the label if necessary for clarity.

You can augment action choices in pop-up menus (or menus cascaded from them) with the word "All" to apply the action to all selectable elements in the selection scope.

You can augment action choices in pop-up menus (or menus cascaded from them) with the word "Selected" or "Selection" (for example, Cut Selection) to apply the action to the current selection in the selection scope.

In conjunction with the Menu Guidelines reference page, use Table 20 “Pop-Up Menu Choices for Selections and Selectable Elements” to decide which choices to include in a pop-up menu associated with a selection or a selectable element and how to organize them.

Make Undo or Repeat/Redo available from a pop-up menu (or a menu cascaded from it) associated with a selectable element only if the corresponding action applies to the selection or the selectable element on which the menu was popped up.

Include predefined pull-down menu choices on a pop-up menu associated with a selection or a selectable element only if they also appear on the Selected or Edit menus or clearly apply to the selection.

In conjunction with the Menu Guidelines reference page, use Table 21 “Pop-Up Menu Choices for Selection Scope Backgrounds” to decide which choices to include in a pop-up menu associated with the background of a selectable scope and how to organize them.

Include the New choice in a pop-up menu only if it is associated with the background of a selection scope and if New appears in the corresponding Selected menu.

Include action choices that act on a selection in a pop-up menu associated with the background only if there are elements in the selection scope that are selected.

If an action choice in a pop-up menu associated with the background of a selection scope applies to the current selection, augment the choice with the word "Selected" or "Selection." For example, use Cut Selection instead of Cut.

If the pop-up menu is associated with a selectable element that is not currently selected and the action label is not augmented with the word "Selected" or "Selection," make the action act as if only the associated element were selected. For example, when the user selects Cut from a pop-up menu on an unselected element, cut just that element to the clipboard.

Help on a pop-up menu associated with an element should have the same effect as pressing Help or F1 when the active cursor is on an element.

In conjunction with the Menu Guidelines reference page, use Table 22 “Pop-Up Menu Choices for Other Elements and Controls” to decide which choices to include in a pop-up menu associated with controls or elements that are not selectable or that do not include selection scopes and how to organize them.

In pop-up menus on elements not related to selection scopes, you can use Copy or Copy Special to place information or values displayed in the element on the clipboard.

In pop-up menus on elements not related to selection scopes, you can use Paste or Paste Special to set information or values.

Do not change the data or selection state of an element when the pop-up menu associated with it is displayed.

If you provide an action choice (other than Help) on a pop-up menu (or a menu cascaded from it) that is associated with a selection scope, provide access to the same choice from either a menu bar, menu cascade button, push button in the same window, or a shortcut key.

When the user invokes a pop-up menu, display source emphasis on the associated element or control.

When the user presses (not clicks) the MENU button at a location that allows a pop-up menu, display the associated pop-up menu at that location.

When the user clicks the MENU button at a location that allows a pop-up menu and the menu is not currently displayed, display the associated pop-up menu at that location.

When the user clicks the MENU button at a location that allows a pop-up menu and the menu is currently displayed, deactivate the associated pop-up menu at that location.

If a pop-up menu is associated with the location of the active cursor and the user presses Menu or Shift F10, display the associated pop-up menu at that location.

If focus is in a spring-loaded system based on a pop-up menu and the user presses Menu or Shift F10, deactivate the system.

When a user presses the MENU button to display a pop-up menu, place the menu so that the menu's default choice is to the right of the pointer. For information on bidirectional and vertical language support, see Chapter 11.